One of the offerings in the show is Degas’ Two Dancers,
a pastel painting on Canson vellum paper.

I wish! But there is an amazing art show going on that I should be going to (along with eating assorted baked goods and cheeses and chocolates).

Matisse, Picasso, Maillol, Warhol–do you know what they all have in common? They chose to work on Canson papers for their drawings and prints. To showcase the incredible group of artists with this one surface in common, Canson and the Louvre museum in Paris put together a show dedicated to more than 50 artists whose works were made on Canson papers throughout history, dating back to the 15th century and extending through the end of the 20th century.

And there’s even a section in the show dedicated completely to papers that were designed for specific artists like Ingres and Maillol. I had no idea that happened. How cool would that be? To have a paper made to your own personal and artistic specifications (dreamy sigh…).

What I was also amazed to learn was how the artists manipulated the paper they worked with in such varied ways. You think, they were just drawing on it, right? Nope, they stamped, overlaid, used it as part of an assemblage, cut it out, pasted, stapled, tore, burned, perforated, or embossed it with pin marks.

So if you are in Paris, go see this show and send me a postcard…and a croissant. Enjoy!